The Camper: First Contact and the Planet Tamer (The Stellar Universe Book 0)

by Richard C Holmes

  This was a lovely place. The lagoon would be beautiful to swim in on a warm day and the house sitting above had what must be a commanding view out to sea. She was instantly envious and felt the irritation rise again.

  She tried to get a handle on the cluster-problem this mission had become.

  The planning and mission brief had been simple. Infiltrate a small recon team via a MC-130 Combat Talon using a HALO (High Altitude Low Opening) parachute jump. Covert collect intelligence from the single residence, the one she was approaching, then a Pave Low helicopter from Bataan would return them to Bataan and no one would be the wiser. Hell, the recon team was almost unarmed, taser and knife only. The house was supposed to be untenanted and its single occupant even if present, no conceivable threat.

  That had all gone sideways on execution. All they’d received was an abbreviated message from the Combat Talon after the HALO drop, the same from the Pave Low, and nothing from the recon team. She’d had to send a marine platoon to investigate and that too had failed.

  How on earth could the marine platoon fail to take this house? It was nonsensical. They’d been sent on a mission to disable whatever was happening in the vicinity that caused all the trouble, disrupted communications and somehow downed the Herc and the chopper. Presumably there was a machine to shutdown, and they were to gather whatever intelligence they could by any means, rescue the recon team and return. Ideally they were to seize or copy anything possible and the time for being covert was long passed.

  Everything was contradictory and nonsensical about this mission.

  Satellite imagery in planning the mission had gone to extraordinary lengths, more than she would have imagined for such a minor task in an out of the way place. Imagery showed absolutely no fortifications or equipment, boats, vehicles, anything whatsoever out of the ordinary. They’d even used satellite based ground penetrating radar and that had come up clean, no obvious tunnels or covered emplacements or suspicious areas. It was good enough to show aquifers in the Nile Delta, hardened missile sites across the planet, on this island there was nothing sub surface.

  For the early part of the night there had been satellite imagery of a bonfire on the beach which coincided with the insertion of the recon team from the Combat Talon. The team had (she assumed) been dropped at high altitude then inserted themselves onto the island, then not heard from again.

  The MC-130 Combat Talon aircraft was vastly over kill for this mission hinting at the degree of seriousness attached to it. It was used by Special Operations Command for covert infiltration which is exactly what they had done, and it had dropped out of communication after an abbreviated message. Imagery showed it landed and disabled on the airstrip, along with the Pave Low helicopter she’d dispatched on schedule for extraction. It too had gone quiet so Bataan had charged in to investigate and the marine platoon sent via landing craft had also failed.

  Now she’d been commanded by the president himself to have breakfast with the sole inhabitant of the island. So the residence was not untenanted and that intelligence had been wrong making her wonder what else was wrong.

  She looked around, shaking her head totally unable to understand what was happening. Up close as they approached, there was a total absence of defenses as far as she could see, yet they’d failed.

  Sure, Jerry Hanley was a new and green lieutenant but the landing craft had GPS putting them within a foot of where they should have been. How had they fumbled the ball? A platoon of experienced marines couldn’t take this house? She shook her head in rising anger. Looking at it, she could take the house herself with her sidearm and a cross look. Maybe the sidearm was redundant too the way she felt right about now.

  Exiting the helicopter she and two marines in blue dress uniforms walked the few yards across the beach to the steps, then they started up to the house, she in front, the two marines behind.

  She’d brought the marines to gain respect and having them at attention added nicely to her ‘gravitas’ giving her authority. That was the plan.

  They’d taken a dozen steps when she felt something was wrong.

  She looked around her as they went up the steps and she just knew there was something vastly wrong, something twilight zone wrong. She and the honor guard trotted up a few more steps then she looked around again and confirmed it, her heart beating hard in her chest.

  “No way,” she whispered to herself, among other things.

  She stopped, the marines stopped, she peered around behind them, looking back to the beach, then her eyes went wide as it sank in.

  They were only five steps up from the beach. She turned then started to run up the steps at double time. She was fit, she hit the pace hard and she heard the marines behind her pounding up the steps then she slowed and stopped. She turned, looked behind again, then she shook her head, 'what the hell' she muttered.

  They were in exactly the same place on the steps.

  She stood still, "Am I going mad? Didn't we just go up about fifty steps," she said to the taller marine who was looking spooked, his face mirroring her own face and feelings.

  He nodded, "Yes ma'am, more I thought. This ain't right." It was a serious complaint; his reality had been given a nasty twitch and it was not a good experience. The other marine was looking just the same, eyes slightly wide and clearly spooked.

  "Wait here," she said then she took three steps by herself.

  She was rising above them! She took a few more steps without the marines then she remembered. The invitation was for her alone, that’s what had been said. Ah.

  She trotted back down to the marines, "Lets try again," then they all took ten steps to find themselves in the same place again, still. She watched closely as they went up the steps and it was exactly like being on the stair walker in the gym. The stairs went down and she and the marines stayed in exactly the same place.

  The message was clear enough. Her and her alone, "You might as well wait with the chopper, looks like the invitation is for just one," she said to the two marines.

  She saw the concern on the men’s faces and it gladdened her but she also saw a hint of the same fear she felt inside herself. This was not right.

  She was starting to think that the spider wanted just one fly in the web at a time, and the fly was herself.

  Or more likely, the magicians cave accepted just one visitor.

  She turned then trotted up the steps. It was quick, she glanced back to see one of the marines was trying to follow, but fail. She smiled slightly at his effort, then she turned and headed on up. It only took a minute then she found herself on a paved patio area in front of the modest house. A quick look showed it to be totally unremarkable.

  She glanced behind to see that the view was indeed beautiful and on the beach below the helicopter and the two marines looked pretty good to her eyes.

  She turned back then nearly jumped out of her skin.

  Right in front of her was a small woman, maybe not even a woman, a young girl looking not even sixteen yet she thought. Close. Very close. Well within striking distance.

  She must have moved both damn quietly and damn quickly to have done that.

  "Just fifteen ma'am", the girl said spooking her slightly, reading her mind. "Welcome to my island Captain Collins, I'm Kate Smith," then a hand was extended.

  She knew exactly who this was, no way on earth could it have been anyone else. The President had been very clear on that. There was supposed to be only one person on the island, and she was to show all respect. Those had been highlights of the commands she’d been given.

  She put her hand out then as soon as she touched the girls hand she felt it, an internal earthquake went through her in a fraction of a second. In that fraction of a second she felt she’d been inspected down to her core, like an eye had been run over her soul, to check and catalog her life.

  She jumped but she shook the girls hand which felt surprisingly strong to her. Not the handshake of a child.

  She was wondering what had happened with
that handshake, wondering if it really happened at all when, "Come, I've made a nice lite breakfast for us," the girl, Kate, said.

  She was feeling disoriented, to say the least. Could she be what the fuss was all about? She was far too small, far to young but her handshake and her level of command was something else again. ‘Command’ she understood, it was something she did every day, and this girl had it.

  The girl turned then led her into the house through the sliding doors off the patio area. Inside she found a disturbingly normal area. Nothing in it was different to what she would have expected in any house she had been inside, normal ones that is.

  She’d half expected some kind of laboratory or super modern arty space like from a James Bond movie, humming machines, some staff in white coats, all that sort of thing. Instead she was standing in the middle of a living room area with settees looking vastly suburban normal. It was nothing special and looking so normal considering what had been happening. Off to one side was a small dining area with a round table, seating for four, then off that a kitchen area. It was all open plan and all neat and tidy but still, nothing special.

  She noticed the smell, then she watched as Kate went into the kitchen, saw her dish up onto three plates, and that made her wonder. Three plates?

  She looked around, there were only two of them.

  "Captain Collins, my boyfriend is joining us for breakfast, he loves his breakfasts."

  With that she looked around then froze as a black shape rose off the floor to be a large black attentive panther. She hadn't seen him when she entered but now he was obvious, moving, with the most alert eyes she could imagine taking her in as she stood in shock.

  The animal came up then rubbed his head up and down against her leg. She stood very still.

  "He's very affectionate and probably smarter than both of us combined," Kate said.

  She mastered her fear then put her hand down slowly. She stroked his head with a finger then the flat of her hand. She ran her hand over the top then down his back a little, feeling like she was stroking velvet. She saw him close his eyes in obvious pleasure which gave her comfort. At least he didn't give her a nip.

  "Cat, breakfast," said the girl.

  His eyes snapped open then he completely forgot who he was with as he looked at the plate in the Kate’s hand. He followed her to a window where she put the plate down then ate quietly and calmly.

  She watched as Kate put their two plates onto the table which was set for two, she now saw. She sat then the two of them ate their breakfast quietly. She quite liked the omelet with the thin fried strips of meat in it and the tomato, thin slices of pepper and mushrooms making it was both tasty and savory.

  As they were finishing Kate looked up at her. "Captain Collins, have you asked yourself why I bothered with all this effort when just one phone call could have warned off the recon marines before they even made it out of the Combat Talon aircraft, let alone the landing craft, and you?"

  She was wondering at that herself. It was clear the president had been called to get her here. He could have as easily called off the whole surreal disaster right from the start and avoided everything. The word ‘fiasco’ came to mind.

  She wondered just why the girl had gone to all the trouble, "It does seem strange to me."

  She saw the hint of a smile, "Ma'am, I went to all this trouble for a number of reasons. My first is to set the record straight. Anyone coming here uninvited can expect a welcome that will leave them wondering just what has happened to them. Next, the United States Military is a body of people I highly respect but that does not absolve them from the consequences of their actions. They need to understand, you come to my island without an invitation and there will be consequences. Now, I'm still young. I'm growing every year and that requires solitude. Having anyone near is intensely painful to me. The first time, the proximity of people almost killed me, it was so bad. Setting up this island as a restricted space works for me and I’ll fight for it."

  She was trying to assimilate that but one question just leaped out, "Are you human? Did you do all this yourself, by yourself and how? We assumed machinery would be required."

  Kate nodded slowly in acknowledgment, "Ma’am I am completely human of human parents. The thing is, well, one day I sort of woke up, everything changed, I changed. It happened over night and the change is continuing as if I'm growing inside. As to how I did this, that is strange even to me. My reality is different, the same as your reality is different to a person born a thousand years ago. The difference is that I project my reality where I want."

  She shrugged, “Sorry, it’s a terrible description, not even close to what happened, but it gives a you feeling for me.”

  She heard the words but they didn't really help much. "That thing with the steps. How did you do that?"

  She got a shrug then a slight smile.

  "I did a variation on that to your lieutenant and his platoon so they couldn't find this house. You should have seen their faces when they walked round in a circle that was impossible." She was grinning as she said it, grinning like the teenager she was.

  Kate was smiling at the memory. "You've heard that space is curved? I just curved it a little more. I learned to do it this year and it’s all part of my growth. Scale doesn’t appear to affect it, one person, an area, it’s pretty much the same effort.”

  She shook her head in disbelief.

  "Coffee ma'am, I have a nice cappuccino if you'd like it."

  She nodded. A nice coffee about now would help.

  If Kate could curve space as she said, and she’d been caught in one such event when she tried to come up the stairs, that would make her an extraordinary weapon.

  The marine platoon had failed to take the house and now she knew why. They couldn’t find it, Kate had manipulated space so the marines either jumped over it or went in a circle before getting to it. Her brain was starting to hurt with those thoughts. Common sense said it was impossible, experience said it happened but that didn’t help much.

  She was thinking of drawing her sidearm but the consequence of that was starting to concern her, and then, what would she do with it anyway? She had a feeling this Kate Smith would be equal to the challenge. Hell, she’d seen off the lieutenant and his platoon, probably without sweating, and Jerry had said she was pretty lippy about it.

  She saw Kate go into the kitchen then return with a cup of cappuccino and a glass of water with ice and lemon for herself.

  “Kate, we saw imagery of a bonfire on the beach and we’ve not heard from the recon marines. What’s happened?”

  Kate shrugged the ‘no big deal’ shrug. “I convinced the recon marines that break and enter into my house was a bad idea. We had a discussion about that, then I sent them to the airstrip after a minor unpleasantness.”

  “If they’d tried to get physical Kate, what would have happened then?” Kate looked about half the body weight of one of the recon marines she knew. Phil, known as ‘Wedge’ for obvious body shape reasons was a monster of a man, taking this girl in unarmed combat couldn’t be a challenge.

  Kate showed teeth without a hint of a smile. “I’m not without the ability to defend myself as well as annoy. I could have evaded, stunned or killed them. My boyfriend was close and visible, he could tear them apart in an instant and I think they got that idea more easily.”

  She looked at the panther flopped onto the floor. As her gaze hit him, one eye opened fractionally then slowly closed again. Sneaking up on that thing was not going to happen. It looked like leather stretched on brick with a brain counting her heartbeats.

  "Captain, my biggest failing is that I can't resist a challenge. I just get so aggressive.” Then she threw into the conversation, “One day I'd like a tour of Bataan, I know Cat would. We both like sea power."

  She listened to the words then she took a long slow sip of her coffee. It was surprisingly good, hot and frothy. Her eyes flicked up and scanned the kitchen, there was no sign of a cappuccino machine yet this wa
s as hot and frothy as any she’d had. It was just another mystery to add to all the others. She noticed the cup it was in was china and had French looking cafe’ markings on the side. She’d stolen the cup from a cafe? Another mystery.

  So much of this was breaking her world-views of how everything worked. Better to focus on the mission. Intel collection was the name of the game, then she had an idea.

  “Kate, mind if I use the bathroom please?” There must be something to see in the rest of this place.

  Kate stood then led her to the sliding door. “Down the end, last on the end is the spare bathroom. Please don’t go into the bedrooms.” It was said bland, then, when she moved down the hall she heard the sliding door close behind her.

  If that wasn’t a setup, a trap, she didn’t know what was. Kate obviously expected her to look in every room she could and obviously by saying it was prepared. And now she was taunting, closing the door, making it easy.

  She walked to the end of the hall, resisting the urge to look into any of the other rooms as she walked past them.

  The bathroom was big. Bigger than a bedroom with one whole wall looking out over the lagoon and sea beyond. A large Jacuzzi was sited to take advantage of the view. There was a sliding door she opened to find the toilet she wanted.

  A few minutes later she washed her hands then exited the bathroom then stopped dead. At the other end of the hall was the closed sliding door into where Kate was waiting, on her left hand side were the doors to the bedrooms. She couldn’t resist.

  She opened the bedroom door then stepped back in shock. She was looking at the bridge of the Bataan. Damn! There was no sound, just an image of the officer of the deck, the helmsman and a view through and over the main deck. Damn. She shut the door then moved to the next bedroom.

  This time she was looking into an office and one glance was all it took. The huge emblem on the carpet gave it away, along with the occupant of the Resolute desk with his head down working. She closed that door quietly just in case.

  There were two more doors and she didn’t know if she wanted to open them after the last two. But she had to, she would never forgive herself if she didn’t. Opening the next door was a blinding and shocking surprise, the image of the sun up close and bright burning into her. She closed that door quickly.